Is It a Monster?
by wolfspirit34
Summary: Human AU. Arthur is trying to fall asleep when Alfred tells him he can't because of the storm outside. Contains slight USUK and Child!Alfred. Contains major fluff.


_Just something I thought up recently when I was reading through some USUK. I haven't found many fics on back when Alfred was a kid or whatever, so I thought I might write something out. What the heck, why not write something than? I rate K+ for childish-ness and slight language (just a "damn" here and there and my language in the AN…), and to point out something this isn't exactly a USUK fic. It's not romantic; it's more of a family relationship with Arthur and Alfred (as he is a child in this). This is a human AU fic, which means Alfred is yes, living with Arthur. Historically (because of the time period), this wouldn't make any sense, hence to the AU. The time period for this, also, is present (again, historically that wouldn't make any sense.)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or the song at the end; they belong to their respected owners._

_.~._

Is It a Monster?

_.~._

Arthur listened, unmoving, to the sound of the rain falling lightly against the window. It made a quiet noise compared to the thunder growling outside like a dog left out in the downpour. He had already seen the lightning half a minute ago…thirty seconds; the storm wasn't too close to his house.

The Englishman turned over on his side, trying to get himself comfortable. He hadn't been able to sleep very well because of the loud noises of the storm approaching. Usually, he'd be able to block out it (raising Alfred gave him this skill, although he didn't think this was a good thing.), but tonight it was too strident to merely fall asleep with. It was practically impossible to deny.

Arthur rubbed his temple wearily as he sat up. The blackened room instantly lit up from the bolt of lightning that flashed outside again, and he flinched at the sudden brightness, leaving spots dancing behind his eyes. He groaned at this, and laid himself back down, _It's going to be a while before I can sleep_. He mused tiredly.

The alarm clock that sat diligently on his bedside read the time as more thunder rumbled from the obscure clouds outside. Ten minutes past twelve, Arthur thought, and he covered his face with his blanket and turned to the opposite side. He was never going to get _any_ sleep at this rate, with this storm rushing here as well as the effects of it.

Lightning flared from his window, again leaving Arthur to swear under his breath against the situation, "Dammit," he moaned, sitting up again, "It's really late. I _really_ need some sleep..."

Thunder boomed, startling Arthur into banging his head against the wall behind him. He cursed again, searching for a number of seconds between the light and sound. Twenty…fifteen seconds, was it? The squall was moving pretty fast, Arthur realised, it had already covered almost half of the distance it had been before. He shut his eyes firmly, the throbbing in his head making a dull reminder about his scare.

A creak from his door made Arthur hit his head again, "Bloody _door_," he muttered to himself, turning to look at it with a cross expression.

The small noise that came from it was followed by a scared-looking face peering from behind it, "A-Arthur, sir?"

It turned out to be Alfred, Arthur's younger brother. The small child was looking frightened, with tearful bright blue eyes looking at the Englishman. Arthur felt his irritation melt away at the expression on his face, "What's the matter? Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked him, blinking away the tiredness and crabbiness.

"I was sleeping," Alfred murmured, shifted on his feet nervously, "But then I heard thunder and I woke up. I-I'm really scared, and I ca…can't go back to sleep, so I got you…I, and...um…"

Arthur swung himself out of bed, "Alright, Alfred. I'll be there in a second," _Alfred does get scared a lot easier than most kids, _he commented to himself as he and his younger sibling made their way down the hall, _Though he does try and get braver sometimes…_

Alfred slowly pushed the door to his bedroom, and seeing the lack of the nightlight he usually slept with, Arthur could somewhat understand why he was scared, "Al, where's you nightlight? Didn't you have it before you went to bed?"

Alfred puffed out his cheeks at the sound of his pet name. He didn't say anything though, as another roar of thunder caused him to squeak aloud in fear. He pressed himself closer to Arthur's leg, "It went missing and, um…I-I don't know what happened it,"

"Oh," Arthur replied quietly, ruffling Alfred hair, "That's okay; we'll look for it tomo-"

An illuminating rip in the murky clouds fulgurated out of Alfred's window, and the child yelped and buried his face in Arthur's pant leg. The elder brother felt his (abnormally thick) brow knit together, keeping a firm, comforting hand on his younger's head as the thunder wailed from outside. It was only about ten seconds or less, he observed, before the thunder had come. That cut off five to ten miles off of the storm. It _was_ rapidly approaching and at this point, it was almost on top of them.

"Arthur, I'm-a sc-scared!" Alfred whimpered as Arthur knelt down to hold him close, "It's really loud and really sca-_scary_!"

Arthur said nothing as he saw the rain making the image of the lightning look distorted outside. It looked less sharp, smoother around the edges, and it resembled a tear mark from when fabric was bitten or clawed into. The thunder snarled, shaking the figure off of the blackened cloud, the window seeming to shiver with it. _Less than five. _The storm was seconds away from being upon them.

Arthur picked Alfred up, though it took much effort. For a growing boy of six years, he was still quite heavy compared to when he was younger. "Alfred, do you know what causes a storm?" he asked him.

It was a silly question to ask him. Children didn't learn until much later that it was caused by clouds getting the water from the lakes and the streams and then letting it back out when it got to heavy, or that light traveled faster than sound hence to the lightning coming before the thunder. But if Alfred didn't think the storm at _lea_s_t_ came from the clouds, Arthur could verify that he would think the cause would not be from the sky, but be from something elsewhere.

"Um…n-not really," Alfred muttered, and he sealed that his theory wasn't too far off the mark.

He set Alfred back onto the bed, "What do you think is out there, Al?" he asked, and setting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "What do you think is making the noises?"

The child shivered, and said in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Well, um…I kind of thought that it was a m-monster, but…"

A monster, Arthur reflected, made a lot more sense than he had comprehended. The lightning could've easily been claw marks from a creature and the thunder could've been its howls. The Englishman patted Alfred on the head, "It does sound kind of scary, doesn't it?" he muttered to himself.

As if on cue, the lightning danced around in the sky like a spirit of the rainstorm, and the thunder roared aloud the fury of it. Alfred yelped again and hid his face in Arthur's chest, "It's a-a gonna eat me!"

"Nothing's going to eat you, Al," Arthur promised, and the child looked quizzically up at him, "There's nothing out there that can eat you,"

"Huh?"

"The storm's only caused by the rainclouds outside, so there's nothing out there that could hurt you. I wouldn't let them if there was."

Alfred shoved Arthur away a bit, shaking his head at the incredulousness of what he had heard, "A-Anything?"

"Nothing can hurt you as long as I'm around," Arthur felt something in the back of his mind all out ruthlessly, _But you can't forever; when he grows up he'll be in all kinds of danger that you can't help him in._

_Shut up, dammit,_ Arthur shot back, a maternal emotion swelling up like a balloon in his chest, _He's my younger brother and yes, I can._

Alfred crawled back under the sheets, and Arthur couldn't help but note that he resembled a scared kitten in a way, moving back under the blankets and getting himself situated for sleep. He smiled, slightly amused at this. Arthur rested a hand on his head once more, "You'll be alright," he repeated.

"Um, A-Arthur, can you, um, sing to me?" Alfred looked away, looking self-conscious of the question he had asked his elder brother.

"…Eh?" The Englishman blinked inquisitorially. _Where did that come from?_

"I remember when I was littler you u-used sang to me when I was going to sleep," Alfred looked up with bright sky-blue eyes shining nervously, "B-But you don't have to if you don't want to! I-I mean, um…"

Arthur smiled at the request. He _could_ remember doing this to Alfred when he was much, much younger. He proceeded to stroke Alfred hair between his fingers, humming out the melody that had glided into his mind, and began to sing softly as a song floated into his head like a feather of vocal grace. "…_Nighttime, sharpens_, _heightens each sensation._

_Darkness, wakes and_

_Stirs imagination._

_Silently the senses, abandon their defenses_

_Helpless to resist the notes I write._

_For I compose, the music of the night_."

"_Slowly, gently, night unfolds it's splendor._

_Grasp it, sense it,_

_Tremulous and tender_

_Hearing is believing, music is deceiving_

_Hard as lightning, soft as candle light_

_Dare you trust the music of the night?_"

Alfred already seemed to be drifting off as the thunder didn't seem to frighten him as much as Arthur continued, low and smooth, with the lyrics seeming to come out with their own minds, "_Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth, and the truth isn't what you want to see._

_In the dark it is very easy to pretend…_

_But the truth is what it ought to be._"

"_Slowly, deftly, music shall caress you._

_Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you._

_Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness which you know you cannot fight._

_The darkness of, the music of the night,_"

Arthur breathed in before he continued, "_Close your eyes, start a journey to a strange, new world, leave all thoughts of the world you knew before._

_Close your eyes and let music set you free…only then can you belong to me…_"

"_Floating, falling, sweet intoxication_

_Touch me, trust me_

_Savour each sensation_

_Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in, to the power of the music that I write._

_The power of, the music of the night_."

Alfred was already asleep from Arthur's voice, with the British accent and the soothing tone, but Arthur continued to hum out the last bit and then began to sing once more, "_You alone can make my song take flight…help me make, the music of the night…_"

He allowed the last word's vowel to last longer than the rest of the piece, before finishing it unobtrusively as not to wake the child that lay slumbering peacefully on his bed. He heard the thunder's reverberation outside, accompanied by the lightning's writhing like a bright snake. But it didn't bother Alfred as much as it had done before; his sleep remained undisturbed and serene. Arthur pulled the rest of the blanket over his younger brother before slinking out of the door, the tune whispering tenderly in his head.

_.~._

_-The song is "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera (the original). IT IS NOT MINE.I have no ownership over it whatsoever._

_Pretty short, it's just over 1500 words but it's a decent start to fanfiction. My God, this is practically made from flying mint bunnies and fluffy unicorns. I'm not too used to writing fluff, but I'm pretty proud of this. Not sugarcoated reviews, please. Thank you for reading! ~Wolfie_


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